


It's Warmer Here

by IntergalacticPansexual



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Climbing Class, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Josh Washington Deserved BETTER, Josh lives AU, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Recovery, Slow Burn, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 04:31:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4905553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntergalacticPansexual/pseuds/IntergalacticPansexual
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I needed a better ending for Josh then what I got. So here you go! My Josh lives AU and everyone's recovery after the events of the game.</p>
<p>Josh survives but his depression and mental instability doesn't magically go away but luckily his best bro and friends will be there for him this time around. Guilt, forgiveness, tears, hugs, climbing bro fluff and much needed comforting all around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Warmer Here

He was so cold.

How long had he been down here? How much time did he have left before his hunger got the better of him? How long before Hann-..the WENDIGO…before the wendigo’s hunger got the better of it?

That foul creature, a ghost for what was once his beautiful little sister, had spared him. But for what purpose? He was dying. He was cold. And he was alone.

His mind was frayed, starvation taking its toll and doing nothing to stop the continuing hallucinations. The images got more terrifying as the days passed (Days? Hours? Minutes? He no longer knew). Images of his sisters, rotting corpses that whispered nothing but death in his ears. Images of his friends (Did he still have the right to call them such after everything he did?) with their silent but accusatory gazes as thick, black blood oozed from their lips. Images of himself, the most frightening of all his hallucinations, eating away at what remained of his sisters, his friends and whatever else he could find.

Josh was dying. Josh was cold. Josh…was all alone.

\--------------------------------------------

A flash of light came from the darkness.

“He’s here! We found a survivor!” 

\--------------------------------------------

It was warmer here.

He was…alive? At least that’s what he hoped.

He was awake but at the same time he wasn’t. Brilliant, right?

He could hear voices, not like his hallucinations which were always loud and disorienting. No, these voices sounded far away, quiet and gentle. Soft touches followed the voices, nothing like the slapping, beating and general violence that his hallucinations provided him with.

He still felt pain, another sign that he most likely hadn’t died yet, but he was feeling better. The burning in his stomach gone and the cuts and bruises a dull sting.

He wanted to open his eyes but they refused to obey him. He’d panic but his mind was soft at the edges, drugs maybe? Was he in a hospital? It’d be the only explanation. But that raised more questions. How'd he get here? How'd they find him? What will happen to him when he finally wakes? Will his friends be here? Are they still…alive?

He let’s his mind sink back into the blur that was unconsciousness. Better to sleep then to let his own thoughts drown him. He needed to get better, that was priority. After everything he’s been through, after everything he put his friends through, he needed to survive this. He owed them all an apology. They deserved at least that.

Josh was alive. Josh had survived. Josh WILL wake up.

\--------------------------------------------

“How’s he doing doc?”

“Well…” The older man swiped his eyes over the chart he held in his hands then gave the unmoving body on the bed a quick once over. He set the chart back down and finally looked up at the group huddled in the corner of the room, anxiously waiting for his reply. “He’s doing fine.”

Chris, who had been the first to speak up, shook his head in disbelief. “It’s been a week doc. I…we all thought he’d wake up by now.”

A sympathetic look flashed in the doctors eyes before settling on careful professionalism. “I understand your concern. Your friend has been through much trauma, both mentally and physically. We’ve done all we can to heal the body but the rest is up to him.” He slid his glasses off his face, tucking them in his white coat before heading towards the door. “Give it time. He’ll wake up when he’s ready, until then all we can do is wait.” The doctor gave a nod then left with a click of the door.

The group stood in silence; at a loss for what to do next.

“He’s never gonna wake up is he?” Ashley whispered as she sank down in one of the chairs that lined the wall opposite the bed.

“Hey, stop that.” Jess moved to sit next to her. “Josh is just….sleeping?” The rest of the group gave her a look but she continued. “The doctor said they’ve done all they can so I think Josh is fighting his own mental war right now.”

“Dudes gonna wake up, gotta punch him for making us worry.” Mike spoke up, no real malice in his voice but earning him a soft punch in the arm by Sam anyways.

Matt and Emily sat on Ashley’s other side and Chris took the seat by Josh's bedside.

After being rescued, after all the interviews, after everything no one could say that they were the same. They had gone up as friends, friends who bickered over things that seemed silly now, but they came down as...well none of them knew what they were now. There was a lot of anger towards each other, distrust even. Needless to say the life threatening events on Blackwood had done almost irreversible damage to their friendship.

But then, two weeks later, the news of Josh’s rescue came. No one had even attempted to talk to the other since their own rescue, but finding out Josh had survived was enough to bring them all back to speaking terms and awkward exchanges.

It seemed natural to be furious at their comatose friend but really they were just happy they were all alive. They had managed to talk things out in the week that followed, things weren’t fixed, but it was settled that Josh would need all of them when he finally woke up.

Chris brushed back Josh’s hair, which had grown out quite a bit. He looked over to the others who were quietly conversing amongst themselves then back to Josh who slumbered away seemingly unawares of the people around him.

“We’re waiting for you buddy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry it doesn't end here folks! I'll try and keep a good pace going but until then comments/kudos and stuff would be greatly appreciated.


End file.
